Nick Berra says he had “a crazy couple of days” over the weekend — “literally planes, trains and automobiles.” That’s the understatement of the track season. On Friday, he won a drizzly masters 800 at Drake and the next day he anchored the Greater Philadelphia TC to third in the M40 4×4 at Penn. I wrote Nick, who lives in Enola, Pennsylvania, and he found time to detail his wild ride. “Met a lot of great people and had a lot of fun – worth every bit of the travel time,” he writes. “It did entail 12 hours of actual travel and a 19-hour day. . . . Until the Enola Relays are commissioned, I will be a “rolling stone.” Here’s his relay at Penn — contested right between the USA vs. the World 4x4s.

Nick takes the baton from GPTC teammate Dave Brown at the Penn 4x4.

As indoor season was wrapping up, I was looking for a couple early season outdoor meets that I could run before taking a little break. Mt. SAC, Drake and Penn Relays were all fairly soon after (Boston) indoor nationals, so I began looking at the dates, times, etc. I originally planned on going out to L.A. to run, but the “commute” was a little long. I ended up running an open 800 (in 1:58.50) at the New York Relays last weekend (April 17-18) instead.

Nick strides out during his 52-second leg for the Greater Philly TC.

When it turned out Drake ran a masters 800 that historically was very competitive, and it was run on Friday, I began to formulate a plan to try to fit it in before Penn. Penn Relays was the priority because of my teammates, but since Drake’s start time was 1:30 CT on Friday I didn’t think I was putting our 4×4 in too much jeopardy. The tricky part became making Drake happen all in one day, because I had ponytail softball coaching duties Thursday evening which took precedence over all the running.

Being a pilot, I have some travel privileges that others are not afforded. I left my house around 4:45 Friday morning to try to catch the 6 a.m. flight from Harrisburg to Chicago, then a quick flight from Chicago to Des Moines. Since I was jump-seating, nothing was assured, but all the United crews were great to accommodate me throughout the day. I arrived in Iowa at 10 a.m. to stiff winds and a driving rain. I only had the work uniform on my back and a backpack full of my running gear, so I began to wonder how I was going to store my stuff with the weather being what it was (one aspect of my plan not being very thought out.)

Luckily, the Drake Relays provide the elite athletes with liaisons at the airport. I wasn’t on the list, of course, but after telling the gentlemen my story (“You don’t have a hotel or a car?!?”) and seeing my working attire, they said they could lend me a hand. They gave me a ride to the stadium and a little backdoor assistance with a locker to store my stuff — the one stroke of luck that day that saved me (thanks, Dave!). From there I was able to warm up and run without any problems, then shower and change afterwards to start my journey home that evening. You asked about the officials — everyone associated with the Drake Relays gets two thumbs up!

The weather for the race was pretty rough. The temperature was cool (maybe hit 60), but there was a pretty stiff wind and what is probably best described as “driving drizzle.” David Nash took the lead after a pretty slow 200 and got through the quarter in about 61.5. He then aggressively attacked the second lap, and I had to work pretty hard to match him. I was able to get past him with about a 100 to go and we both finished around 1:59.5.

I knew he had had success here in the past and was a great masters 800 runner, so I was happy to get the win over a talent like him. Just like so many people doing this can attest, actually meeting the people you read about is often the best part of the event. He was as friendly an individual off the track as he was a fierce competitor on it – it was great to meet him and hear his story (27 consecutive years going sub-2:00!). All in all, it was worth the effort to go out there despite the weather, and if it is possible to do again next year I would not hesitate to give it a try. I can only imagine how cool that stadium probably is on a bright sunny afternoon.

I was home by 11 p.m. Friday evening, then after my daughter’s soccer game Saturday morning my wife and I split for Philadelphia. Drove to the suburbs then took the train to the stadium where we met the Greater Philly guys with our tickets. We didn’t have much time to watch the event because everything takes twice as long to do at Penn due to the crowds — getting to your seats, going to warmup, corrals, etc.

When we finally ran, our GPTC team was up to the task. Scott Landis and Ray Parker survived the start and crazy early handoffs and put us in good position, Dave Brown worked us free from the crowd and into a solid third position, and I just managed to not mess anything up. We ran 3:36 and came in third of 12 behind two fast Southwest Sprinters teams. I think I split in the low 52s, which I was happy with — running in no-man’s land can be tough to judge your pace.

It was the first medal the club had ever won at the Relays, and a club record, so we were all happy with the result. After a cooldown and a club dinner we all went our separate ways — home by 10 p.m. Went straight to bed because I had a 4:45 a.m. pickup for a FedEx trip Sunday morning. No rest for the weary.

Both events were great in their own sort of way. Drake was much smaller (compared to Penn Relays most events are), but also much more relaxed. It was great to actually have a moment here and there to meet some folks and talk to the officials, and it was nice that they all seemed to sincerely appreciate the effort I put forth to make the race. They put on a first-class event from start to finish.

Penn Relays is Penn Relays — probably the craziest, busiest, most energetic event a track athlete will ever get to experience. Anyone who has ever run at Penn knows that between the crowds and the officials you don’t have much room to operate. They run a tight ship there in order to run the amount of relays. If anyone has a chance to run there, do it! To be lucky enough to run both (meets) in a weekend will be something I will remember for quite a while.

I feel surprisingly good afterwards, no doubt thanks to some ibuprofen and “The Stick.” I’ll probably just put in some easy distance for the next couple weeks until I formulate a plan for the second half of the season. I’m running the Race for Hope in support of brain tumor research in Washington, D.C., this weekend with a neighborhood team. Should be a fun and relaxing event for a change.

I don’t have any track dates booked for the summer as of now, but will definitely plan on making Sacramento in July if I am feeling good. It’s been a pretty long season, so a little break is in order, but I’ll be back sooner rather than later. As we all know, I’m not getting any younger.

Thanks again to all the folks in Des Moines and Philadelphia who put on great events for more athletes than you could possibly count — those two events have not been around for a combined 216 years by accident. Hopefully next year I can give myself an extra minute or two before and after to enjoy these world-class meets a little more. I will definitely be a little wiser after working out the kinks this time around.

Greater Philly's M40 relay team was (from left) Scott Landis, Ray Parker, Nick Berra and Dave Brown. (All photos by Melanie Berra)